How Can You Diagnose Adrenal Fatigue? Self Diagnostic Tests

There are many different tests that can be performed to diagnose adrenal fatigue. Which tests are the most accurate? Should you base whether you have adrenal fatigue or not based on your symptoms instead of test results?

There are some tests that you can perform at home that can help diagnose advanced adrenal fatigue. Most of these self-diagnostic tests poorly diagnose early adrenal fatigue. These tests might also be inaccurate your body can compensate well for the insufficiency and appear to be normal.

These self-diagnostic tests are for basic reference only, and laboratory diagnostic tests should be used to determine properly adrenal issues and to form proper regiments based on personal actual cortisol curve.

Blood Pressure Test

Take one blood pressure reading sitting down after resting for five minutes. After taking your blood pressure stand up immediately and take it again. If you have healthy adrenals your blood pressure, should have at least increased ten to twenty points, and your heart rate should have increased. When you stand your blood pressure increases so that your heart can maintain proper blood flow to your brain. If you are very athletic it may be possible to observe very little change in your blood pressure when you stand up and still have healthy adrenals. If you blood pressure drops, however, you may be suffering from adrenal fatigue because not enough adrenaline and cortisol are released to increase your blood pressure. You blood pressure instead falls, the blood pools in your lower extremities, and you may feel dizzy.

Pupil Test

The pupil test is used more to determine inadequate aldosterone production. First, stand in a darkened room in front of a mirror. From the corner of your eye, shine a bright light directly at your pupil and observe for a minute. If you have inadequate aldosterone production your pupil, will not be able to maintain its smaller size due the light and will either flicker or fluctuate between sizes. People with early adrenal fatigue may pass this test easily because aldosterone production has not been affected yet.

Temperature Test

You can determine your thyroid and adrenal function by taking a basal temperature three times a day. Take your temperature when you first wake up in the morning, three hours after that, and in another three hours and record your results for a week. If your temperature recordings fluctuate greater than a degree (unless you are very hot, just took a hot shower, recently exercised in the past hour, or eaten a large meal,) you may have a state of adrenal dysfunction. If your basal temperature is low (<96 degree Fahrenheit) consecutively you might suffer from low thyroid function.

Search Fix Your Gut

Search for:

About John Brisson

John Brisson is the author of Fix Your Gut: The Definitive Guide to Digestive Disorders. Due to his extensive knowledge on the subject of gut health, John has been tapped by prominent supplement companies as an educator and collaborator on product formulation. As a lifestyle counselor, he has logged thousands of hours assisting people with digestive disorders and coaching them to improve their overall health. John applies his experience and ample research full-time to the construction of a dynamic, evolving database of actionable, evidence-based information on digestive health. Beyond what can be readily accessed on his website and in his definitive e-book, supplementary info from John can be found all over the web in his activity on various health information hubs and forums (including his own Fix Your Gut Forum).